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Dying in North Dakota

A recent article in the Bismarck Tribune highlighted an alarming trend. It stated that “The suicide rate in North Dakota between 1999 and 2016 is the highest in the country, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” In fact, the CDC study found that the suicide rate in our state increased by almost 58 percent from 1999 to 2016. Does that surprise you? It certainly surprised me.

In contrast to those numbers, North Dakota was recently ranked by U.S. News and World Report as having the highest quality of life in the nation and Bismarck, one of our largest cities, was just voted as the second least stressful city in America. Fargo came in at a respectable #11, of the 182 cities in the survey. I frankly do not understand this apparent contradiction with the suicide numbers, but nevertheless, it’s pretty clear from the CDC data that we have a troubling suicide trend here in North Dakota.

As Christians, we value life from conception to natural death, so what should our response be? Mental illness is at the heart of this suicide problem. There are many ways to address this: educate yourself about mental illness, watch for early warning signs, ensure that those with mental illness have adequate access to health care professionals, and many others measures. However, what if we could entirely eliminate one documented contributor to mental illness and suicide? I’m talking about abortion.

Studies in the US and in many other countries all point to that fact that there are clear linkages between abortion and mental illness/suicide. While some might suggest that these women already battled with mental illness before their abortion procedures, that certainly doesn’t bode well for encouraging women to make life-changing abortion decisions while already dealing with mental illness. Regardless of one’s perspective, the trauma of having an abortion is certainly not going to help the mom’s mental state and, if the literature is to be believed, it will most likely make matters much worse.

You and I probably focus most on preventing abortions to save the lives of preborn children, which should certainly remain our focus. However, we need to recognize that we may preventing another death – the mother’s. At the very least, preventing an abortion will also prevent a lifetime of dealing with regret, depression, guilt, and many more negative effects. That should spur us on to work even harder to end the abortion travesty!

One of the most effective ways to do that is by electing individuals with biblical moral foundations into office. Family Policy Alliance of North Dakota needs your help saving these lives by getting pro-life North Dakota candidates elected to office at the state and national levels. You can help us by volunteering or by donating. Further, every dollar of your support can be tripled right now, thanks to two generous matching gifts!* Please consider supporting our efforts to stop abortion at all levels of government and to save lives of both preborn children and their mothers.

Sincerely,
Mark Jorritsma
President and Executive Director

* Your election-related gift right now will be tripled up to $20,000 and doubled between $20,000 and $50,000. Donate now and automatically get the appropriate match applied by going to our dedicated election fundraising website. Thank you!

If you want to know more about being a volunteer, please reach out to Janelle Steinberg, our ND Elections Field Director, at janellesteinberg@yahoo.com or 701-212-9007. We offer a number of great incentives and you can be on the front lines protecting your family values!